Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) Stock

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $132.00 to $176.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on NTRA. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Natera from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on Natera from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Natera from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.65.

Natera Stock Down 3.3 %

NTRA stock opened at $146.06 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $127.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.99 and a beta of 1.53. Natera has a twelve month low of $52.01 and a twelve month high of $167.79. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical research company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $439.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.43 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Natera will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 4,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.41, for a total value of $692,226.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 185,034 shares in the company, valued at $27,090,827.94. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 2,212 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $350,668.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,073,262.58. This trade represents a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,821 shares of company stock worth $4,776,878. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Natera by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Natera by 32.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 430 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 3.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 3.5% in the third quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

About Natera

Natera, Inc, a diagnostics company, develops and commercializes molecular testing services worldwide. Its products include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus, as well as in twin pregnancies; Horizon carrier screening test for individuals and couples determine if they are carriers of genetic variations that cause certain genetic conditions; Vistara single-gene NIPT screens for 25 single-gene disorders that cause severe skeletal, cardiac, and neurological conditions; Spectrum, preimplantation genetic tests for couples undergoing IVF; Anora that analyzes miscarriage tissue from women; Empower, a hereditary cancer screening test; and non-invasive prenatal paternity product, which allows a couple to establish paternity without waiting for the child to be born.